Devils, Needing an Answer, Query the Top N.H.L. Prospects

Image

Nolan Patrick (19) is a candidate to be selected first over all by the Devils in the N.H.L. draft.CreditMathieu Belanger/Getty Images

By Matt Higgins

June 3, 2017

BUFFALO — One of the most colorful stories about an N.H.L. prospect concerned Trevor Linden and the Vancouver Canucks. In 1988, Brian Burke, the assistant general manager for the Canucks at the time, had asked Linden to come from his home in Medicine Hat, Alberta, to Vancouver for psychological testing before the draft.

Linden explained that he was unable to because he needed to help his father with the cattle on the family farm.

When asked what his job was, Burke told The Toronto Star, Linden explained: “Well, as they come into the pen, I’m the one who grabs them and throws them down and pins them while they brand them and castrate them.”

Burke said, “O.K., you can skip the test.”

Nearly 30 years later, 104 of the top N.H.L. draft prospects, ages 17 and 18, have gathered to submit to a battery of tests here at HarborCenter, a three-rink campus, for the N.H.L. scouting combine.

In physical testing, which began on Friday, players were put through the paces to measure agility, strength, speed, balance and endurance. But the bulk of the week — and, some suggest, the most important aspect of the combine — was reserved for private 20-minute player interviews with the 31 N.H.L. teams.

Many top prospects have been prepared by agents and managers and sound almost robotic when describing their interactions with team representatives.

But that does not mean there are no surprises. At least one story circulating this year has added to the lore, said Dan Marr, director of N.H.L. Central Scouting, a league department that runs the combine and ranks draft-eligible players.

“One European player went into a team suite and the European scout from the same country asked him, ‘What do you think of the elite league in our country?’” said Marr, who would not reveal the name of the team or the player. “The player said, ‘I think it’s stupid, slow and boring.’”

When the European scout asked the same question of the next player, he got the same response. The first player had told the second prospect about the exchange after his meeting.

“The guy freaked out,” Marr said of the scout. “The kids set that one up. Some of these kids are real characters.”

The Devils, who own the No. 1 pick in this month’s draft, are not necessarily looking for colorful characters.

“At the end of the day, you’re drafting a hockey player,” General Manager Ray Shero said.

The Devils are expected to select one of two centers — Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier — and Shero would not reveal which player he preferred. Patrick is ranked No. 1 and Hischier No. 2 by Central Scouting, but many consider them equally worthy of the first selection.

“If the order was flipped, I don’t think anyone would blink an eye,” Marr said.

Patrick is a rugged 6-foot-2, 198-pound right-hand shot from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father, Steve, and uncle James Patrick played in the N.H.L.

Nolan Patrick was the captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League during the 2016-17 season, but he missed more than half of the games because of injuries, recording 20 goals and 26 assists in 33 games.

His reputation rests largely on the 2015-16 W.H.L. season, when he accrued 102 points in 72 games and led the Wheat Kings to the Memorial Cup, the championship of Canadian junior hockey. He was named most valuable player of the playoffs.

Hischier rocketed to prominence during the 2016-17 season while playing for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and for Switzerland at the World Junior Championship, an international under-19 tournament. A 6-foot, 176-pound left-handed shot, Hischier recorded 38 goals and 48 assists for Halifax. He dazzled at the world juniors with seven points in five games.

“I went to a weekend in Halifax, and Nico put on such a show,” Marr said. “I said, ‘This kid is literally worth the price of admission.’ When you watched Brandon in the playoffs the year before, you left going: ‘You want Nolan Patrick on your team. This is a guy you can win with.’”

Marr said both players were head and shoulders above the rest of the draft field. Whomever the Devils do not select will most likely wind up with the Philadelphia Flyers, who own the second pick.

“They are different types of players,” said Shero, who has visited Patrick in Winnipeg and Hischier in Switzerland.

Hischier, who called the interviews “a little bit more important than the testing,” said he had a good meeting with Shero. “He told me about New Jersey, about the whole organization, and about the city, and all that stuff,” Hischier said. “It was pretty interesting.”

Patrick said he did not get any indication whether New Jersey would pick him first. “They were really good; they were a really friendly group,” he said. “They spent some good time with me, so it’s been fun.”

Although Shero said he can find out a lot about a player by searching his name online or looking him up on social media, the Devils employ Dr. Aimee Kimball, a sports psychologist, to help with questioning during player interviews.

Shero is one of six members of the Devils’ staff present during interviews, but he said Kimball asks 80 percent of the questions.

“It’s a matter of gathering more information and looking for red flags,” Shero said. “It’s an added layer of information. We’re in the information business. You try to minimize your risks.”

Last week, the Devils interviewed more than 60 players, including Hischier and Patrick, but they were not all auditioning for the No. 1 pick. New Jersey has 10 other selections in the draft.

“Sometimes it’s funny, they get asked a question, and they say, ‘Wow, that’s a new one,’” Shero said. “Let’s see how they respond to it. Some kids say: ‘Can I take that one back? The more I think about it.…’ You think they’re done and next thing you know there’s a funny story about their sister, or something about their personality.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page SP7 of the New York edition with the headline: Devils, Needing Answer, Query the Top Prospects. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe